September is all about resetting after the rest and leisure of summer. Back to school starts, the weather begins to cool down and once Labor Day passes, your end-of-year goals come back into focus.
Whether you’ve been on top of your resolutions the whole year, or you’ve taken some time to rest and recharge over the summer, one of the best ways to tap back into your motivation is by creating a mood board (also known as a vision board). This is a creative project that helps you to envision your goals and reminds you to act on them regularly.
Keep reading for step-by-step instructions on how to create and use your mood board, plus a few fun ideas and tidbits!
Step 1: Reflect on Your Mood Board’s Purpose
What would you like your mood board to be inspiration for? Some ideas may be:
- Fitness goals
- Career hopes
- Travel plans
- Wedding planning
- Interior decorating ideas
- Celebrating holidays or changing seasons
…or simply, you want to create a collage that captures an aesthetic you find beautiful! Any of these reasons are totally valid ones for creating your mood board.
Step 2: Curate, curate, curate!
Once your board has an intention, you can start thinking about aesthetics. Is there a specific color palette you’d like this mood board to portray? Is there a muse or inspiration, like a film or outfit you love? Once you have an idea of what you want it to look like, it’ll be easier to find all the perfect pictures.
Start to shop around for images you can use in your mood board. Sites like Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr have a lot of different styles of photography and themed selections. You can also look in magazines! Magazines are curated, so you know that you’ll find beautiful photos in them. You can even add photos of your own that remind you of happy times!
It’s also nice to include some text or typography. There are many artistic interpretations of inspirational sayings or famous quotes on the internet, but you can try your own hand at quote if you’d like, either through software like Microsoft Word or Canva or by hand with calligraphy!
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Step 3: Putting It Together
Once you have your selected images, you can either print them out if they’re online or cut them out of a magazine. You’ll also need a surface to attach them to—most people use a corkboard or blank area of wall.
You can use tape or thumbtacks to attach your photos. Most mood boards arrange them in a strategic way, offering a bit of white space to break up the busy photos. You can also make your mood board on a smaller scale, like in a page of a notebook or a journal. Scrapbooking is a great option for anyone trying to manifest on-the-go!
Step 4: Letting It Influence Your Habits
Make sure your mood board is in a location where you’ll look at it and take it in frequently. This is the best way to ensure that it makes a continued impression and motivates you to achieve your goals.
It’s also good to place it in a location that’s associated with what you’re trying to channel. For example, if you want it to reflect some work goals, place it near your desk. Similarly, if your mood board reflects a dream trip that you’re saving up for, place it by your front door—that way, when you leave for work or errands, you’ll be reminded to look forward to your big trip!
Now that you’ve learned how to make a mood board, you probably also want some tips for how to make the process fun! Thankfully, there are tons of fun ways to put your dream mood board together.
Mood boarding with little ones
Getting kids involved in mood board creation is a great opportunity to do something fun and creative! It also teaches them about the power of ambition and visualizing the things you want in life. They can even create their own mood boards, highlighting colors they like and dreams that they have.
Mood boarding with friends
Host a mood board party with some friends who you know will be into it! You can all use a posterboard and print out images together. Everyone can share their inspirations or goals for their mood board and what they hope to gain from creating it.
Mood boarding with your partner
A big part of a relationship is sharing goals together. Making a shared mood board symbolizes the ways that your lives and futures are intertwined! It can represent each of your separate goals, like fitness motivation or career aspirations. This is also a good opportunity to focus on some shared goals, like travel plans or intentions of expanding your family. No matter what you choose to focus on, this is a great bonding experience for you and your partner.
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Are you inspired to make a mood board now? Let us know your plans for it in the comments below!
